1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new and improved collapsible vehicle, and more particularly, to a collapsible vehicle having a frame and steerable and non-steerable wheels which are movable between storage positions within the periphery of the frame and deployed positions outside the periphery of the frame.
2. Description of Related Art
Personal electric scooters have been widely used to assist people who have disabilities or limited energy in enabling the user to be mobile, particularly in urban environments. One of the problems of prior art electric scooters has been that they are sufficiently bulky so that transport of the scooters from one location to another by means of an automobile, sport-utility vehicle or aircraft is difficult and unwieldy.
Collapsible vehicles which fold to reduce the overall dimensions for transporting and storing are known. An exemplar of such prior art vehicles is U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,348 to Di Blasi which shows a collapsible frame which folds about transversely oriented pins.
Disadvantageously, such a vehicle remains bulky in its folded configuration because the width of the vehicle remains the same in both its folded and use configurations. Furthermore, lifting and handling such a prior art vehicle in its folded configuration is difficult and unwieldy because the entire weight of the vehicle, including its fuel or batteries, remains attached thereto.
In summary, the present invention is directed to a collapsible vehicle having a frame, a non-steerable wheel assembly and a steerable wheel assembly. The frame includes a longitudinal member, a transverse member, an upright member proximal to one end of the longitudinal member, and a steering member proximal to another end of the longitudinal member. The longitudinal member and the transverse member define a base plane. The non-steerable wheel assembly includes a non-steerable-wheel movable between a storage position within the periphery of the frame to a deployed position outside the periphery of the frame and extending below the base plane. The steerable wheel assembly includes a steerable wheel movable between a storage position within the periphery of the frame to a deployed position outside the periphery of the frame and extending below the base plane. The present invention is also directed to a method of using a collapsible vehicle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible vehicle which collapses to a storage configuration having reduced longitudinal and lateral dimensions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a collapsible vehicle having easily removable components which may be conveniently stored and carried within in a carrying bag.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a collapsible vehicle having a frame and steerable and non-steerable wheels which collapse within the periphery of the frame.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.